Anchor Bolt Sock

ABSTRACT

Disclosed is a re-usable protective cover for an anchor bolt, that prevents wet concrete, dirt, and other debris from coming into contact with the threads of an anchor bolt during a concrete pour, and subsequently. The protective cover is made of a flexible material that fits over the exposed threaded end of an anchor bolt, like a sock fits over a foot, and is removable, and re-usable at any stage.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

A. Field of the Invention

The subject invention relates to a cover to protect anchor bolts orsimilar devices from concrete contamination during a concrete pour.

In the construction industry to include commercial, industrial andresidential concrete construction anchor bolts are used to tie down orconnect structures, vessels, supports, equipment, etc. to a foundation.Anchor bolts are required by most building codes in order to lessendamage to a building during an earthquake or tornado.

Anchor bolt configuration can vary greatly. A typical anchor bolt willbe ⅜″ to 1½″ in diameter and have a projection (amount of boltprotruding above the finished concrete surface) of 2″ to 7″.

A problem occurs during construction with regard to the anchor bolts.When fresh concrete is placed into forms containing anchor bolts, by thenature of the task, unprotected anchor bolt threads become contaminatedby the very concrete that will eventually fill the form and become thefoundation.

The concrete contamination must be thoroughly removed at the time of thepour to allow the anchor bolt templates to be removed. Residualconcrete, cement or sand that is not removed from the threads in atimely manner will harden and become very difficult to remove and almostimpossible to do so with out damaging the threads, nut or anchor boltcoating (galvanized) in the process.

The present invention relates to a cover for anchor bolts that protectsthe threads there fore from damage by or contamination of wet concreteduring the concrete pour.

B. Description of Related Art

U.S. Pat. No. 4,907,929, Johnston, issued Mar. 13, 1990. This patentdiscloses a bolt and nut cover that fits over the bolt and nut, afterthe nut is screwed onto the bolt. It is disclosed that the coverprevents corrosion of the bolt. The cover is not used to protect thebolt during a concrete pour.

U.S. Pat. No. 4,932,818, Garwood, issued Jun. 12, 1990. This patentdiscloses a positioning system for accurately setting anchor bolts inconcrete construction work. Part of the system is a plastic sleeve thatis threaded over the threaded section of the anchor bolt. It isdisclosed that the sleeve protects the exposed threaded end of theanchor bolt from dirt, cement and other debris. The sleeve can beremoved after the concrete is set, thus allowing the anchor bolt to beput to immediate use, without any delays in cleaning. The sleevedisclosed in this patent is unlike the protective cover of the instantinvention.

U.S. Pat. No. 6,347,916, Ramirez, issued Feb. 19, 2002. This patentdiscloses a plastic cap that fits over an exposed anchor bolt,protecting it from weather, and aiding placement of anchor bolts whilewet concrete is settling.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The subject invention is a re-usable protective cover for an anchorbolt, that prevents wet concrete, dirt, and other debris from cominginto contact with the threads of an anchor bolt during a concrete pour,and subsequently. The protective cover is made of a flexible materialthat fits over the exposed threaded end of an anchor bolt, like a sockfits over a foot, and is removable, and re-usable at any stage.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a front view of the protective cover of the invention.

FIG. 2 is an side view of the protective cover of FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a bottom view of the protective cover of FIG. 1.

FIG. 4 is another front view of the protective cover of the invention.

FIG. 5 is a template view of the protective cover of the invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The anchor bolt protective cover or sock of this invention is bestdescribed in relation to the figures. As seen in FIGS. 4, and 1, thecover 10, in front view, has as trapezoidal shape. The cover has abottom section 12 and a top section 14. The bottom section 12 is widerthan the top section 14. The specific dimensions are not critical, butshould be more or less proportionally the same. In a preferredembodiment, the bottom is 4¾ inches wide, and the top is 2⅜ inches wide.The cover 10 is preferably about 7 inches high. As best seen in FIG. 2,which is an edge or side view of the cover 10 of the invention, thecover 10 is in the form of an envelope, having a front panel 16 and aback panel 18, and is closed except at the bottom edge 20. As seen inFIG. 3 the bottom edge 20 is open for the purpose of receiving thethreaded top of an anchor bolt, or the threaded top of an anchor boltwith a nut screwed on it.

FIG. 1 shows the front panel 16 of the cover 10 of the invention. Eachpanel (front 16 and back 18) has a grommet 22 positioned close to thebottom edge thereof. The purpose of the grommets 22 is so that the cover10 can be toe nailed into a wooden anchor bolt positioning template, notshown, should that be used during a concrete pour.

If desired, the cover 10 of this invention can be made of a singlepiece, sewn together at the sides and at the top. A template 24 for thecover 10 formed of one piece is seen in FIG. 5. The cover 10 is made ofa flexible, water washable material, preferably reinforced vinyl. Thematerial is called a banner material, or rip stop banner material. Thethickness can be variable, but should maintain a certain flexibility. Ina preferred embodiment, the vinyl material is 11 mils thick.

As seen in FIGS. 1, 2 and 3 a cord 26 consisting of one stringpreferably 16″ long is attached nearly centered on its overall length tothe cover 10 at a point near the top thereof. The purpose of the cord 26is to tighten around the covered anchor bolt and hold the subjectinvention in place during a concrete pour, if a metal template is usedor the installer does not wish to toe nail the cover to a woodentemplate. The cord can be attached to the cover with a staple or othermeans.

The cord 26 can be made of any flexible material, i.e., nylon, rayon,cotton or the like. Preferably, it is made of ⅛ inch braided nylon, ormore preferably # 18 braided nylon.

The protective cover 10 of the invention can be re-used over and overagain. When the risk of anchor bolt thread contamination has passedduring a pour, the cover 10 can be removed from the bolt, washed, andused again. On occasion, the nut that is normally placed on the threadedanchor bolt after the concrete is dried, is placed on the threadedanchor bolt prior to the pour. The protective cover 10 of the inventionis large enough to allow it to cover the nut as well as the threadedportion of the anchor bolt.

The cover 10 of the invention can be used on any bolt pattern, any typeof template material, any bolt finish, in any type of weather, and doesnot leave sticky residue on the bolt. It will not damage rubber gloveswhile plumbing a bolt, and it does not prevent normal anchor bolthandling while in place.

This tool saves labor while placing concrete. It is also very durable,easy to install, remove, clean, store and re-use over and over again.

The protective cover of this invention has many benefits. Because thebolt, or nut and bolt (above the template) are protected during thepour, the pour crew will not need to clean that portion of the boltassembly. Bolt templates can be removed sooner because the nuts are notbound by cement or sand that migrates in to the thread where the boltand nut connect. Unnecessary water introduced to the surface of theconcrete is reduced by the lack of bolt cleaning needed to striptemplates.

This product was designed to be installed and used above the concretesurface and does not need to be removed until the contractor is ready tostrip the bolt template or to advance the cover to the next bolt on thesame pour. Further, the tool remains pliable even in temperatures belowfreezing.

Although this invention has been described with reference to specificembodiments, this description is not meant to be construed in a limitingsense. Various modifications of the disclosed embodiments, as well asalternative embodiments of the invention will become apparent to personsskilled in the art upon the reference to the description of theinvention. It is, therefore, contemplated that the appended claims willcover such modifications that fall within the scope of the invention.

1. A protective cover for foundation anchor bolts comprising a flexibleenclosure having a generally trapezoidal shape, connecting front andback panels, and an open mouth at the bottom thereof, said cover beingdimensioned to enable it to fit over and enclose the threaded portion ofan anchor bolt exposed above a concrete surface in which the anchor boltis situated.
 2. The cover of claim 1 in which said front and back panelseach have a grommet situated near the bottom thereof.
 3. The cover ofclaim 2 wherein the center opening of said grommet is of a sizesufficient to pass a construction nail there-through.
 4. The cover ofclaim 1 which further comprises a rope attached near the top thereof. 5.The cover of claim 4 wherein said rope is made of nylon.
 6. The cover ofclaim 1 where the fabric of the cover is made of reinforced vinyl. 7.The cover of claim 5 wherein the reinforced vinyl is 11 mil thick.